Bibliographic information
Recommendation
Health care providers should consider exposure to child maltreatment when assessing children with conditions that may be caused or complicated by maltreatment (see Boxes 1-6: Examples of clinical conditions associated with maltreatment and alerting features), in order to improve diagnosis/identification and subsequent care, without putting the child at increased risk.
Recommended in favor
Strong
Certainty of evidence
Very low
Notes and Remarks
Health care providers need to consider that child maltreatment is often perpetratedby caregivers and the offending caregiver might be present. It is therefore importantthat health care providers are trained in communicating with caregivers in suspectedcases of child maltreatment (see GP 7).
Also Featured In
This recommendation also appears in the following guidelines:
Responding to intimate partner violence and sexual violence against women: WHO clinical and policy guidelines
Responding to intimate partner violence and sexual violence against women: WHO clinical and policy guidelines
WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience
Consolidated guidelines on HIV testing services, 2019
Consolidated guidelines on HIV prevention, testing, treatment, service delivery and monitoring: recommendations for a public health approach
WHO recommendations on maternal health: guidelines approved by the WHO Guidelines Review Committee, second edition. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025
Consolidated guidelines on differentiated HIV testing services.